


the soft stars that shine at night

by howlingheartdemigod (helpmeimstuckon)



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Pre Relationship, Resurection ceremony, Temporary Character Death, but I rolled with advantage, non-explicit description of violence, yes I did actually roll for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 11:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17724605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helpmeimstuckon/pseuds/howlingheartdemigod
Summary: Jester’s hands were bloody, hovering above Beau’s slashed stomach. She needed to cast heal wounds again. She needed to try something more. She needed to, needed to do something.Caleb’s voice felt distant when he finally spoke, when anyone finally spoke, breaking the rushed silence, watching her try and fail in healing Beau. “You can’t fix the dead.”-Beau dies. The Nein work to keep from losing another one of their own.





	the soft stars that shine at night

**Author's Note:**

> originally a prompt fill on tumblr for the prompt "can you write beaujester + a hard battle and a reviving ritual?"  
> and i decided to go full mercer resurrection ceremony because I am a apparently a masochist 
> 
> see DC & roll information in the end notes
> 
> title from do not stand at my grave and weep my mary elizabeth frye

The fight had been fast and bloody. The creature, it seemed, had been expecting them. It had fought and clawed, darting through the trees around them, knowing the ground better than they did. They’d fought back. They’d won. The abomination was dead nearby, having hurt them all severely. Having hurt one of them more than the rest.  
Jester’s hands were bloody, hovering above Beau’s slashed stomach. She needed to cast heal wounds again. She needed to try something more. She needed to, needed to do something.  
Caleb’s voice felt distant when he finally spoke, when anyone finally spoke, breaking the rushed silence, watching her try and fail in healing Beau. “You can’t fix the dead.”  
“She’s not.” Jester snapped at him, teeth bared. “She’s not, she’s just, we can fix this, we… we need Beau, we have to fix this.” She insisted. She watched Caleb, bloody in his own right, sink down, sitting across Beau’s form from her. He nodded. Jester’s hands, alight with magic energy pressed into the cuts, trying to stitch them back together. It had to work. It needed to work.  
It wasn’t working.  
“I don’t have any diamonds. Does anyone,” Jester took a broken breath. “Does anyone have any diamonds?” She pleaded, looking around, eyes wide with tears. Her friends stood around her in various states of injury. Yasha, leaning heavily on her greatsword due to an injury to one of her legs, shook her head, eyes empty, staring at their fallen friend. Fjord patted his pockets, but found himself coming up empty. Nott shook her head weakly, leaning against Caleb, a hand curling into his coat.  
"It's been to much time for that." Caduceus said softly, digging into one of his pockets.  
Jester shook her head, muttering softly in anger, in desperation. “No, no, no, we have to… we have to save her. We can’t… we can’t go on without Beau.” Her voice broke, tears pouring. “How do we go on without Beau?”  
“There’s…” Caduceus’ soft voice rang from next to her, as he came to kneel with her by Beau’s body a gem in hand. “I’ve heard of a ritual.” He said. “It’s not full proof. But my mother passed the knowledge onto me, just in case.” He shrugged. “It requires three people.”  
Jester nodded, “Of course, of course we can of course, we have to.” She said, looking back at Beau. “What do we do?” she asked.  
Caduceus took a breath, then said some soft words, and Jester felt something settle over them. She didn’t understand what, just that it mattered. It was the weight of something important, she figured. The weight of something that would be bad to mess up.  
“We have to give something of value over, physical or not, words, we need to implore to her, and to death itself to bring her back.” Caduceus said, before nodding a little. His words were quiet, but decisive. “Wild Mother, I try not to call for things like this often, big things, world bending things. But this time it is necessary. Your domain, the wild land beneath our feet, it’s where she fell. I’m asking you to bring her back. Beau, you… You’ve gotta come back. You’re meant for more. You’re a force for good in the world. We need your knowledge, your guidance. You drive us to great things, and require none of the credit. Trust the earth. Trust me. Listen to the Wild Mother. Come back.” Caduceus looked at Beau a little, then nodded, letting out a little breath. “Who else?” he asked softly.  
Jester’s voice was too full of tears, she looked around, not sure if she should or not. She looked to Nott, who was drinking heavily, to Fjord, who seemed ready to puke, to Yasha, who just shook her head and, broken, said “I can’t.” Jester understood that. If they failed, Yasha would have to face that she’d failed Beau twice over, once by letting the creature hurt her, again, by not having the right words to beg for her back. She couldn’t lose Beau like she lost Molly. She couldn’t lose someone else. Jester wasn’t sure if she could either.  
“I will.” Caleb said, to Jester’s surprise, pushing himself closer. “I, uh…” He fumbled around in his pockets, and pulled out a rock with a faint ring on it. “Beauregard, I know it’s not much. I don’t have much. But… I didn’t have anything before I met you all. And losing another one of you… I can’t survive that. You are… You are my family, Beauregard. I’ve been fighting so hard to get my family back, but I found a new one along the way. I didn’t have anything, but now I have you all. I have a family. You told me… You told me you don’t get to pick who cares about you, and I think you’re right. But you also don’t really get to pick who you care about, even when you try. I care about you. So, please, come back. I need my family. I need you.” Caleb pressed the stone into Beau’s palm, then curled back into himself, staring at Beau’s face.  
Jester took a broken breath, “Okay,” she said, trying to smile. “I think I should say something now.” She reached out a hand and brushed Beau’s hair back into place, accidentally running a streak of red in it. “I know that… I know that you are really strong Beau. And so I really think you should just, come back. You should be strong and come back. And I will make you lots of treats and I will never ask you to carry my bag just because I’m feeling lazy, and…” Jester let out a little sob. “I really need you Beau. Not because of… not for the world. Not for the good of things. Not for the Traveler, or Ioun, but for me. I need you Beau. The world doesn’t make sense without you. So come back.” she took a breath, then dug around in her pockets, searching for something of value. “I don’t know what to give you. I would give you myself. Can I do that? I would give you me if it meant having you back.” Jester reached and put her hand in Beau’s. “Please, just come back.”  
Jester closed her eyes, squeezing Beau’s hand, and she waited. She waited for what felt like an eternity. She would have waited for even longer. She felt the magic Caduceus had called lift, she heard a sob leave Nott. She heard Caduceus settle back onto the earth. She would have happily let the world fall away, she would have waited forever, even after they'd all given up.   
Something in her broke a little, spreading fear throughout her. The magic had lifted, but Beau wasn’t back. The moment had passed and she was still dead. This was going to be it, wasn’t it? She was going to lose her best friend, her... whatever Beau meant to her before she even understood what that was. Jester squeezed her hand again, letting out a sob.  
And then, almost imperceptibly, there was a squeeze back. Jester’s eyes flew open, and she leaned forward, her free hand reaching to cradle Beau’s jaw, search for a pulse. “Beau?” she asked. Beneath her fingers, barely there, but undeniable, was a heartbeat. Jester let out a wild laugh of relief. “She’s back!” she cried. “she’s alive, she’s here.” Jester closed her eyes and let magic course through her body, pouring healing energy into Beau’s form.  
Beau took another ragged breath, wounds on her stomach stitching back together. Beau blinked awake, eyes bleary. “Jes?” she rasped out.  
Jester let out another broken wild laugh, and ducked down, burying her face into the crook of Beau’s neck. “You were dead.” she told her. “You were dead.”  
Jester couldn’t see, but Beau smiled. The hand that Jester wasn’t clutching, now empty, but as they would soon notice, baring a faint ring in the palm, lifted to Jesters head, carding into her hair. “You can’t get rid of me that easy, Jester.” She said, despite the pain. “I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> The associated checks, that I rolled with advantage because fuck it  
> DC 15, because Matt said he was going to make it more complicated this campaign, but I couldn't think of a good way to do that, so I just set a higher DC  
> all rolls were made with advantage because I wanted to  
> Caduceus made a religion check, rolled a 19 -1 = 18  
> Caleb made a persuasion check, rolled a 15 + 5 = 20  
> Jester made a wisdom check, rolled 14 + 4 = 19  
> Final resurrection roll 17
> 
> if you’re wondering how i reason having jesters be a wisdom check, fuck man, idk it made sense when i was writing it and can’t remember now


End file.
